Fam Bam

I arrived at the hotel and thankfully they allowed me to check in without my parents and even helped me out with the bags.  I figured I was going to be waiting awhile and I didn’t want to buy Internet so I scrolled through Itunes to find something to watch.  There was some random “Friends” gag reel on there.. good enough for me.  About ten minutes in, I heard a knock.  They were here!!  Seeing their tired faces filled with that “thank goodness we’re here, wow we’re tired, omg we’re so happy to see you” contentment made me smile.

We hit the ground running since we only had two days in Rome.  Day one we hit all the tourists spots, walked most of Rome, and stumbled upon this little dessert shop with some chocolate cake that was to die for.  *sigh*  They got to Rome's favorite plazas, statues, fountains, streets, and The Colosseum (last picture) in less than ten hours.  That's right, be amazed.  On one of the side streets, we found a glass store.  The beautiful bulbs hanging in a zig-zag formation drew my mom and me inside.  The owner is a really nice man who took our picture while we shopped like crazy.  It may sound crazy, but that was definitely a highlight of Rome for me.

We ended the incredibly long day with Dar Poeta in Trastevere.  Sharing a beer with my dad was definitely fun.  I can still make fun of him because he gets Asian glow, I don’t.

Day two we hit up the Vatican in time to see the Pope make his speech on the screens (he is still out of town) and got to see St. Peter’s.  Then the folks wanted to climb to the top.  Seeing mom’s face when the stairs narrowed would have been funny if it wasn’t so hot.  The picture above is them, halfway up the stairs.  Haha, sorry mom.  We made it, though, and the view was once again totally worth the climb.

Later in the day we went down Trastevere where I showed them real, Italian street pizza, the apartments and my coffee shop.  Unfortunately they were closed for the midday Italian chillout time but, thankfully, the workers were there and I was able to say goodbye.  My coffee guy said ciao and, instead of a wink, blew me a kiss.  I thanked them for the wonderful coffee and said, “Ciao”.  We ended up a the Spanish steps and dinner in Trastevere (with a winky Italian waiter! Haha).  On our way back to the hotel, I realized we never said goodbye to Eugene.  My parents, the troopers that they are, said no problem so we walked a few blocks out of the way to the gelato place.  We got some gelato and I thanked him for everything and told him we’d miss him.

We are catching a train out to Florence tomorrow.  I’m going to miss this city but I am thankful for every millisecond in these past five weeks.  I am even more grateful I was able to share some of these experiences with my awesome parents.  I’m one lucky girl.

I'll be in Europe for some time still.  But since home is where the heart is, now I'm home.

"I've got my memories/ They're always inside of me…/ Now I'm finally where I belong…/ I've been searching for a place of my own/ Now I've found it…/ And I've got my heart set on what happens next/ I've got my eyes wide and it's not over yet/ We are miracles/ And we're not alone…/ And now after all my searching/ After all my questions…/ I've got a brand new mindset/ I can finally see the sunset…/ Now I know, Yeah this is home" --Switchfoot, "This is Home"